Four tyres of this remote controlled car wrapped in tyre heaters and tissue paper to keep them at between 60 and 70°C before the race.
Calm precision. That seems to be the best way to describe the mood around men getting ready to race with their remote control (RC) cars.
Before “race day” begins, one of them straps a commercial, petrol-powered leaf blower on his back and blasts every square metre of the 200m speedway with it.
Sweeping is not enough. There must not be any fine grit or sand on the race track, and the leaf blower takes care of that.
While he blows, the rest of the guys take out their gear and array them on the workbenches.
A PPRCC driver lubricating the rubber wheels before his next race at the Batu Kawan Remote Control Track.
Hundreds of tools are needed, not to mention electronic monitors and power generators, so to prevent a general mess, the men wear masks of concentration as they arrange their gear on their work benches at the driver stand and car pit beside their speedway.
“Just like real cars, the precision balancing and alignment of all the moving parts are critical for RC cars to perform well,” stressed Mohd Khairol Jamaluddin, 38, president of Penang Professional Radio Control Club (PPRCC).
He was fiddling with his tyre warmers during the interview, making sure his RC car tyres are kept heated at between 60 and 70°C before any race.
“When the tyres are warmed, the rubber softens and fills the microscopic crevasses on the race track better.
PPRCC members engaging in a race at the Batu Kawan Remote Control Track in Penang. — Photos: ZHAFARAN NASIB and ARNOLD LOH/The Star
“This improves friction so that the tyres grip the race track well during hard corners,” Mohd Khairol explained.
At the driver stand, which is “upstairs” of the car pit and workbenches, more of the players’ calm and complete absence of haste is displayed.
While their cars zoom around as fast as possible, the players stand stock still, tweaking the steering wheel controls by a millimetre this way or a millimetre that way to control their cars. No one says a word unless an accident occurs on the race track.
Their cars are one-tenth the size of real ones and Mohd Khairol says they can move at up to 90kph.
“But on the race track, with so many turns, we normally drive at below 30kph,” he said.
Members of the PPRCC, more than 50 of them, typically meet up in the late afternoon on Saturday and Sunday at their race track, built at the back of Batu Kawan Stadium in south Seberang Prai at the cost of about RM30,000 a few years ago.
“On weekend mornings, we spend time with our families and do our domestic chores. So by about 3pm when it is not so hot, we come out with our gear and hold friendly races,” Mohd Khairol added.
Often times, there is not enough workbench space for all racers, and so they improvise by setting up portable tables and chairs under the trees, with fans powered by generators that principally supply electricity to their electronics.
Mohd Khairol, who works as a facilities manager in real estate management, admits that all RC fans are aficionados in electronics and mechanics, and this is their idea of spending the weekend outdoors to get away from the confines of their homes.
Many precise measurements are taken to ensure all the moving parts of remote controlled cars are perfectly aligned for top performance.
While most PPRCC members prefer battery-powered units that use electric motors, Muhammad Redzuan, 40, is a fan of two-stroke internal combustion engines powered by nitro fuel, which is a blend of nitromethane, methanol and oil.
“The achievable speeds between battery and nitro fuel power are similar, but batteries last only a few minutes while a nitro fuel engine can keep going for up to an hour.
The silvery cylinder is the exhaust pipe and the purple object is the two-stroke engine in this remote controlled car powered by nitro fuel.
“These little two-stroke engines work almost the same way as your two-stroke motorcycle engine.
“And since I am familiar with them, it’s easy for me to maintain them,” the factory operator and part-time motorcycle mechanic added.
Using an electronic monitor to measure the power output of the car battery accurately.
Whatever the preferences of individual RC fans, one thing is certain: this is not a low-cost endeavour.
Mohd Fishol Azizan, 60, said serious players spend RM500 to RM1,000 a week on the pursuit.
He began this hobby in 1998, getting his son involved too. His son has moved on to other pursuits, but Fishol has stayed true to his passion.
Cleaning the engine block of a remote controlled car, 1/10th the size of a real car.
In all these years, he estimates that he has spent more than RM50,000 on the hobby alone.
“There are so many RC models, from helicopters to planes, trucks to off-road buggies.
“But with speedway RC racing, I love the speeds that we reach.
“And then there is the precision and attention to detail needed, not just in the preparation and maintenance, but also in the control of the cars when we race them,” he said.
